The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is a Living Horror History Museum

Over three years ago on this very blog, I was gushing about what a fantastically scary comic series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina was. Well it’s 2018 now, and thanks to a very successful Riverdale TV show, we have recently just experienced the first season of the live-action Chilling Adventures of Sabrina series.

And what a season! Not only did I love the storytelling and how the tone got progressively darker as it went, but I was blown away by the multitude of Easter eggs in this show. I mean, this is beyond few nods here and there to the movies and stories I grew up with. This show is a weekly tour through horror history, and there are so

There have been some great articles written that list every single Easter egg in this show, but in my opinion, reading through all of them takes some of the fun out of discovering them. So I’m just going to list my personal top five that I truly appreciated as a horror fan.

Clive Barker’s Art

Clive Barker is my favorite modern horror writer. He’s also an amazing artist, and one of the things I love most about CAOS is the fact that his artwork is sprinkled throughout the first season. Those hauntingly beautiful paintings on the walls of the Academy of Unseen Arts–painted by the horror master himself.

Hellraiser 

From takes on the Lament Configuration, to the cenobite-like judges of the Church of Night, to the Cotton house nods in Madame Satan’s home, the creators’ love for Barker’s most well-known work is evident in every facet of the show.

Suspiria

I mean, it makes total sense if you are creating a series about witchcraft to have some nods to Suspiria. The doors to Father Blackwood’s office and the the stained glass ceiling in the Spellman house are great tributes. But I think the lighting and colors that are used throughout the series are such homages to Argento’s classic. They also give the show a comic-book vibe, which is great.

Nightmare on Elm Street

The Tina Easter egg for Nightmare on Elm Street was great, but I screamed out loud when I saw Harvey wearing the #10 t-shirt, just like Johnny Depp’s Glen in the original NOES. So freaking good.

The Fog

The last episode of season was was fantastic for a variety of reasons, but it stood out for me because of the direct homages to John Carpenter’s The Fog. So many great fog and mist-filled camera shots, the silhouetted banging on doors, and some timely Carpenter-esque musical cues had me smiling throughout the entire episode.

These are just a handful of the amazing tributes CAOS is paying to horror books, films and creators. I have already started re-watching the entire season again. It’s such a gift to horror fans.